Current Affairs This Week (12-11-2017)

India under serious burden of anaemia, obesity: reportIndia is facing a serious burden of of malnutrition as well as obesity, according to a global report which shows that while half the country’s women suffer from anaemia, at least 22% of adult women are overweight.

Uber, Nasa to develop flying taxisUber unveiled a partnership with NASA that will see it develop flying taxis priced competitively with standard Uber journeys.

A self test for cervical cancer?
A large clinical trial using VIA screening carried out by Dr. Surendra Sashtri and others from Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre, employed trained health workers, and showed the efficacy of the technique. More so, using acetic acid for cervical cancer screening is inexpensive and can reduce the lifetime risk of cervical cancer by nearly 25% to 36%.

Dusty rings spotted around nearest exoplanet,Proxima CentaurAstronomers have spotted a dusty ring around the nearby star Proxima Centauri (an exoplanet), hinting at the existence of other planets in addition to the famous Proxima b.

Chemical compound responsible for life on Earth discoveredThe scientists have found a compound, diamidophosphate (DAP) that is capable of performing previously unthinkable task of combining three key ingredients to produce several building blocks of life on Earth.

IMA declares public health emergency in DelhiThe Indian Medical Association (IMA) has declared public health emergency in Delhi, in view of the deteriorating air quality of the city. The city has Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of over 300 for the past few days.

The oldest spiral galaxy in the universe was discoveredAstronomers have discovered the most ancient spiral galaxy in the universe which they believe existed 11 billion years ago, a new study has revealed. The scientists hope that the discovery would provide insights into the early cosmos.

India sets Guinness World Record by cooking 918kg khichdiIndia has set a Guinness world record by cooking 918kgs of khichdi, a traditional multi-grain dish, at the World Food India 2017, global food event organised by the Government of India in the national capital.

Decorative drinking glasses may contain dangerous toxins
The researchers found lead present in 139 cases and cadmium in 134, both on the surface of the glasses and, in some cases, on the rims, with concentrations of lead sometimes more than 1,000 times higher than the limit level.

First in Tamil Nadu, Srirangam temple bags Unesco awardSri Ranganathaswamy temple has become the first temple in Tamil Nadu to win the prestigious UNESCO UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation.

brain chemical that can evade unwanted thought is identifiedScientists have identified a key chemical in the brain that allows us to suppress unpleasant memories, a finding that may pave the way for treating patients of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or schizophrenia.

Goa will play host for Nobel Prize Series-India 2018
Goa will hold the Nobel Prize Series-India 2018 from February 1 to 28 next year. The government of Goa on Friday (November 3) signed a trilateral memorandum of association (MoU) with the Department of Bio-Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and Nobel Media, Sweden to hold the Nobel Prize Series.

James Naismith: Inventor of world’s third most popular sportJames Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the game of basketball at age 30 in 1891.

New ant species discovered in the Western GhatsBelonging to Tyrannomyrmex, a rare tropical genus of ants, the species was discovered by the team from the Vallakadavu range during an expedition a year ago.

Indian women’s hockey team wins 2017 Asia Cup titleIndia women’s hockey team managed to hold China 5-4 in the final of Asia Cup, and won their first Asia Cup title after 13 years.

Hindi Writer Krishna Sobti awarded Jnanpith award 2017The Jnanpith Selection Board has announced the recipient of the 53rd Jnanpith Award for the year 2017. It went to eminent Hindi Litterateur Krishna Sobti,” the board said in a statement.

New species of wild banana discovered in Andaman and NicobarBotanists have discovered new species of wild banana named Musa paramjitiana in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Chennai Included in UNESCO’s ‘creative cities network’Chennai, capital city of Tamil Nadu was recently included in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO’s) Creative Cities Network for Contribution in Music.

Anasuya Sarabhai : Pioneer of the women’s labour movementAffectionately addressed by the moniker ‘Motaben’, Anasuya Sarabhai holds a unique place in the history of the country. Her words and actions continue to inspire many Indians to fight for a better and equal world for all people.

HVMN Ketone : World’s first commercial ketone drinkHVMN Ketone is an FDA-reviewed drink that promises increased athletic ability, heightened focus, and energy and supercharges the human body. a startup out of San Francisco is bringing one of the first commercial ketone esters to market.

Chinese scientists identify genetic pathway in ageing
Chinese scientists have found the first genetic pathway underlying natural variation in ageing, which could provide insights for developing interventions to slowdown the process of growing old in humans.

Fossils of oldest mammal ancestor discovered in U.K.Scientists have discovered the remains of humankind’s oldest mammal ancestor – a tiny rat-like creature that lived 145 million years ago.

Debjani Ghosh to be first woman President of NASSCOM in 2018The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) named Debjani Ghosh as its President-Designate, who will succeed R Chandrashekhar after completion of his tenure next year

Saudi Arabia Is First Country to Give Citizenship to RobotSaudi Arabia says it has become the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a robot.The female robot’s name is Sophia. She was recently introduced at a large investment conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Bonnet macaques losing their ground in south India : studyThe team collated information on bonnet macaque presence from surveys between 1989 and 2015 along 651 km of Mysore’s roadsides and found that over the last 25 years a staggering 65% of the population has disappeared.

IIT-H develops novel skin patch for constant drug releaseResearchers at the IIT Hyderabad have developed a novel drug-delivery system that releases a commonly used pain killer at the target site in a controlled fashion such that there is constant release of drug for 12 hours.

IIT Bombay’s very low power water filterThe water filter developed has a high desalination rate and capacity; one gram of electrode can remove 139 mg of salt (calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium ions) at a rate of 3 mg of salt in one minute.

Autonomous body to conduct entrance exams gets green signal
In an effort to relieve the CBSE, the AICTE and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting entrance examinations, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared a proposal on Friday for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA).

India re-elected member of UNESCO’s executive boardIndia was re-elected as member of executive board of United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO). Executive board is UNESCO’s top decision-making body.